1. Field
The present invention relates to a backup system and method for an image forming apparatus that back up data saved in the image forming apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
A hard disk drive (HDD) is mounted in an image forming apparatus such as a copier, a printer, or the like. Various data including data of a copied or printed image may be saved in the HDD. Since the data saved in the HDD may be shared between a plurality of users, this image forming apparatus is very convenient to the users.
It is preferable that the data saved in the HDD of the image forming apparatus is backed up in another storage device. This is because important data to be kept is included in the data saved in the image forming apparatus.
When the data is backed up, the data is kept without loss even when the HDD fails. With the recent development of technology, the large capacity and miniaturization for the storage device such as the HDD or the like are in progress. The image forming apparatus is widely using this large capacity storage device serving as a device for saving data. However, if a large amount of data is saved, it may be difficult to replace the large capacity storage device with a new storage device after reading data at the time of failure. When the data is backed up, an action against the failure of the large capacity storage device may be taken.
When backup is performed, sufficient attention needs to be paid to the confidentiality of the backed-up data.
In many cases, data saved in the image forming apparatus includes confidential information. When the storage device in which data including the confidential information is backed up is lost, there is a risk that the confidential information may be leaked. When a portable device equipped with the HDD serving as the storage device for backup is used, sufficient attention needs to be paid to the confidentiality of the backed-up data. There is a higher possibility of loss in the portable device as compared with other devices.
To increase the confidentiality of data saved in the image forming apparatus, a conventional technology encrypts the data when the data is saved in the HDD of the image forming apparatus. An encryption key to be used upon encryption is pre-stored within the image forming apparatus. When the encrypted data is directly backed up, the confidentiality of the backed-up data is enhanced and the risk that the storage device for backup is lost is reduced since the backed-up data is the encrypted data.
However, an important problem with the confidentiality of data occurs in the conventional technology when the backed-up data is accessed or edited in a personal computer or the like.
When the backed-up data is accessed or edited in the personal computer or the like, the encrypted data is to be decrypted (into plaintext). The decryption requires the same encryption key as that used in the encryption. For this reason, the encryption key is to be extracted outside the image forming apparatus so as to decrypt the backed-up data (or encrypted data). In this case, a method of keeping the encryption key is problematic. When the encryption key is leaked, not only the backed-up data may be leaked, but also the original data saved in the HDD of the image forming apparatus may be leaked.